Love

by Sherryl Woods

  They were bent over Dana’s sketchbook an hour later, when the door to his office burst open. Jason glanced up and caught his father’s agitated expression, the quick head-to-toe examination to which he subjected Dana before mentally dismissing her.

  “Hey, Dad, come on in. I want you to meet the new artist who’s working with us. Dana Roberts, this is my father, Kevin Halloran.”

  Kevin’s fierce expression softened slightly as he shook Dana’s hand. “Son, if you’ve got a minute, I think you and I need to talk.”

  There was an edge to his father’s tone that worried Jason. Kevin rudely turned his back on Dana and went to stare out the window as he waited for Jason to create the sort of privacy he’d requested.

  Jason bit back a furious retort and said quietly, “Sure. Dana, we can finish this later. I think you’ve got the right idea now, anyway.”

  When she was gone, Kevin turned back. Before Jason could say a word about his father’s rudeness, Kevin snapped, “What’s this I hear about some woman moving in with you?”

  Jason froze. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Actually I believe your mother heard it from one of her friends, Marcy Wellington’s mother.”

  Jason recalled the visit he’d had the previous evening from Marcy. Always more aggressively interested in him than he’d been in her, she’d stopped by hoping to spend the evening, perhaps even the night, with him. She’d even expressed a willingness to forgive him for what she described as that humiliating evening at the symphony gala. Discovering Dana on the premises had brought out her cattiest nature. He wasn’t surprised that the news had traveled this fast.

  “How could you take a step like this without informing us?” Kevin demanded. “Your mother’s distraught.”

  “I doubt that,” Jason countered. It was his father, not his mother, who tended to worry about appearances. “Don’t you think I’m a little old to be called on the carpet about my living arrangements?”

  “Not when they reflect on this family. Not when you’re living in our house.”

  “It’s not your house. I bought it, remember? And having Dana and her brother living under my roof is hardly likely to damage the Halloran reputation.”

  Kevin stared at him in astonishment. “That’s the one? That girl who just left here is living with you?”

  Jason bristled at the demeaning tone, but managed to keep his own tone even. “She needed to get out of her old apartment. She’s staying with me until she can find her own place in a better neighborhood. If I have my way, she’ll stay on indefinitely. I’m planning to ask her to marry me, Dad.”

  Kevin regarded him as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re what?”

  Jason wasn’t sure exactly when he’d made up his mind. Maybe it was simply hearing his father’s demeaning tone that had formalized the decision. “I’m asking her to marry me. She’ll probably turn me down, but I intend to keep on trying until she says yes.”

  “Well, thank goodness one of you is displaying some sense. Are you determined to ruin your life?”

  Jason’s voice dropped to a low, ominous tone. “If I recall, there was a time when Granddad said the same thing about Mother. You of all people should understand what kind of havoc an outdated attitude like that can wreak. Are you planning to follow in his footsteps, anyway?”

  The charge had the desired effect. Kevin’s face fell. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and sank into a chair across from Jason’s desk. When he finally met Jason’s gaze again, he looked genuinely contrite. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.”

  Worried at the gray cast to his father’s complexion, Jason pulled a chair up opposite his father and sat down. “Dad, can’t you talk to me about what’s going on?”

  His father shook his head. “No. I’m not sure I even understand it myself.”

  “Why don’t you and Mom come to dinner tomorrow night? You can spend some time with Dana and her brother. I want you to see how truly special she is. I’ll ask Granddad, too. He’s out in the plant with her brother now. He and Sammy have really hit it off.”

  His father didn’t look thrilled with the prospect of a family dinner, but he said, “I’ll talk to your mother and let you know, okay?”

  “Please try, Dad. It’s important to me.”

  Kevin stood up and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll do what I can.”

  As he left Jason’s office, though, Jason couldn’t help wondering if his father had any intention at all of passing along the invitation. To make sure that the dinner came off, if for no other reason than to provide an opportunity to see his parents together and get a sense of what was troubling them, Jason dialed his parents’ number.

  “Mom, I was just talking to Dad about a family dinner at my place tomorrow night. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  “The woman who’s living there?” she said, though her tone was far less judgmental than his father’s had been.

  “Yes. You’ll really like her. Her brother’s a little—” he searched for a word “—unexpected. So is Dana, for that matter. You’ll come, won’t you?”

  “If it’s important to you, we’ll be there,” she promised, though he could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

  Still, that was two down and three more to go. His grandfather would probably be delighted to have the opportunity to spend more time with Dana and Sammy. And Sammy could be persuaded to do anything that involved Mrs. Willis’s cooking. Dana, however, was another story. He had a hunch she was going to take one look at the Halloran clan gathering and head for the hills. For a woman who craved family the way she obviously did, she seemed deadly earnest about avoiding any personal connection with his.

  He debated telling her at all, then decided she’d never forgive him if she turned up for dinner in jeans and discovered his whole family at the table.

  He broached the subject at the dinner table that night, after Sammy had left to spend an hour playing computer games before doing the assignments Mrs. Willis continued to heap on him.

  Dana listened to the plans, then repeated, “They’re all coming here? Tomorrow?”

  “Yes. You already know Dad and my grandfather, right? And you’ll love my mother.”

  “I don’t think so. Sammy and I will go out for the evening.”

  “The whole point of this dinner is to have everyone get to know you.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Why?”

  Sensing that he’d made a tactical blunder, Jason tried to backtrack. “I want you to meet my family. It’ll help you understand what Hallorans are all about.”

  “Professionally?” she inquired hopefully.

  “Exactly.”

  “I suppose that does make sense, but…”

  For the first time since he’d known her, she suddenly looked totally at a loss. “But what?” he prodded.

  “Nothing,” she said finally.

  Jason suspected he knew what nothing meant. He’d seen her one dressy outfit and suspected she was already finding fault with it, trying to imagine how she could possibly fit in with his family, wearing discounted clothes. He vowed then and there to find her something special first thing in the morning. What good was manufacturing the finest fabric, if you couldn’t call in a favor from a designer every now and then?

  * * *

  Dana imagined she knew what it felt like to be walking toward a guillotine. Despite Jason’s reassurances that this family dinner was nothing more than an opportunity for her to understand the Hallorans, she knew she was the one being trotted out for inspection. Not even Sammy was under the kind of unspoken pressure she was facing. He’d greeted news of the dinner with blasé indifference, then had gone back to one of the books Brandon had loaned him about the history of the textile industry.

  Determined to strive for the same kind of nonchalance that Sammy was affecting, Dana didn’t even bother to go home from work early. What was the point? She had one decent skirt, one reasonably fashionable sweater, one pair of high-heeled shoes. Wit
h no feminine dawdling over choices to factor in, it would take her about twenty minutes to shower and dress.

  That was her thinking right up until the minute she walked into her room and discovered the boxes stacked in the middle of her bed—a bed she’d slept in only once since moving in with Jason. She stared at the assortment of packages in wonder.

  Never, not once in her life had she received this many presents at one time. What was she supposed to do about them? She couldn’t take gifts from Jason. She might not have been to finishing school, but she knew what was proper. Even in her neighborhood, a woman took presents like this only when she was willing to have her reputation compromised. Hers might be shaky at the moment, but so far she hadn’t done anything she might regret later. These packages represented regrets.

  She scooped them up in her arms and marched down the hall to Jason’s suite. Since her hands were full, she kicked the door until Jason came to open it.

  “What’s all this?” he questioned, feigning innocence.

  “I might ask you the same thing.”

  “Haven’t you opened them?”

  “No. I can’t accept them.”

  “You don’t even know what’s inside.”

  “I can guess,” she said stubbornly. She dumped the boxes onto the bed, then turned to glare at him. “If I’m not good enough for your family the way I am, then I don’t need to be at this dinner tonight. And if you’re ashamed of me, then you’d better say so now, because I will not allow you to try to pretty me up just so I’ll fit in.”

  Her point made—rather emphatically she thought—she stalked toward the door.

  “Whoa!” Jason said, putting his hands on her shoulders and spinning her around. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. I am not ashamed of you. I want you to like my family and vice versa, but if that doesn’t happen, so be it. I bought these things for you because I want you to feel comfortable, because you deserve to have beautiful things. If you’d rather wear something else—if you want to wear your jeans and one of your sweaters—it’s okay with me. I love those jeans. They do great things for your legs.”

  The sincerity in his voice reached her. Her temper slowed to a simmer, then finally cooled altogether. “Maybe I could at least look in the boxes,” she said cautiously.

  Sammy at his most indifferent couldn’t have been any more casual than Jason when he shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

  “I’ll look.”

  She opened what appeared to be a shoebox first. Folded inside layers of tissue paper were the slinkiest, highest silver sandals she’d ever seen. She recognized the label from one of the city’s swankest shoe stores.

  “Ohmigosh,” she murmured, trying to imagine wearing the shoes without feeling a little like Cinderella in her glass slippers. If the shoes were this incredible, what on earth did the rest of the boxes contain?

  “More?” Jason inquired lazily. He’d sprawled in a chair to watch. His posture was relaxed, but there was a tension beneath the surface that suggested he couldn’t wait for her reaction to the rest.

  Suddenly Dana grinned and gave in to temptation. How often did fairy-tale extravagances happen to a woman like her? “Oh, what the hell? Let’s go for it.”

  She tugged open the biggest box and discovered a slinky black dress that shimmered with silver beads on the shoulders. She held it up and moved in front of the full-length mirror. She swallowed hard when she saw her reflection. She looked glamorous. She turned slowly back to Jason. “If this is what you had in mind for a simple family dinner, I would never have forgiven you if you’d let me go downstairs in jeans.”

  “I had my own jeans out, just in case.”

  The remaining boxes contained the sheerest, laciest lingerie Dana had ever seen. She tried to picture Jason shopping for it, but her imagination failed her. “You bought these?” she asked holding up one of several pairs of virtually nonexistent panties. The pair dangling from her finger was black. There were others in the sexiest red, the richest cream, the most virginal white.

  He grinned. “Had the time of my life doing it, too. You just have to promise you’ll wear them under your jeans. The image will drive me wild. In fact, if you don’t get them out of here this very instant, you and I are going to be very late for dinner and that will really take some explaining.”

  Dana gathered the clothes up from the bed and started out the door. At the next instant she looked back and caught the pleased expression on Jason’s face. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I feel like Cinderella.”

  “There’s a difference, sweetheart. You’re already home.”

  Dana couldn’t get Jason’s words out of her head all through dinner. She barely noticed that Sammy was wearing new slacks, a dress shirt and a tie that he kept trying to tug loose. There was a new confidence about him that even in her distracted state was impossible to miss. He watched Brandon Halloran and mimicked every move the older man made. Brandon was careful to include Sammy in the conversation, for which Dana was grateful.

  Everything about the evening was perfect. Everyone admired her dress. Mrs. Willis’s menu was superb, even if Dana didn’t know what half the things were. Lacey Halloran went out of her way to be gracious to both Dana and Sammy. After his initial reserve, even Kevin Halloran opened up. It had taken several glasses of wine to accomplish that, but whatever the cause, Dana was grateful. After his behavior in Jason’s office, she’d been prepared for open disapproval.

  Jason sat back and watched the byplay with the satisfaction of a man who’d put all of his chess pieces into motion and was waiting for certain victory. When they moved into the living room after dinner, he poured brandy for everyone—even Sammy, who choked on the first sip and asked for a soda.

  Lacey Halloran set her own snifter of brandy on an end table and leaned toward Dana. “Jason tells me you had to leave your old apartment.”

  “That’s ’cause these guys I knew said they were gonna come after her,” Sammy piped up. “Jason and I figured it wasn’t so safe for her to be there anymore.”

  Jason’s mother looked nonplussed for an instant. “That must have been very frightening,” she said finally.

  “You get used to the violence in a neighborhood like that,” Dana responded.

  “I’m sure living here is a vast improvement,” Kevin said. It sounded to Dana as if he were accusing her of something, though his expression was perfectly bland.

  “Actually I don’t expect to be here all that long. Sammy and I will find a place of our own.”

  Lacey Halloran looked confused. “But I thought…”

  “There’s no rush,” Jason said, interrupting his mother.

  Dana had a terrible hunch she knew exactly what the woman had been about to say. Apparently Brandon Halloran was not the only one with a mistaken understanding of where her relationship with Jason was headed. They’d probably taken one look at this fancy dress she was wearing tonight and leaped to all sorts of wrong conclusions. They probably thought she intended to take Jason for everything she could get. Unfortunately there was no way she could correct their impressions without embarrassing Jason and making matters worse.

  It was one of those rare times when retreat seemed the most prudent course.

  She stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I really should be going up. I have work to do and I’m sure you all would like to spend some time together without an outsider around. Sammy, I know you have homework.”

  Jason was on his feet at once. “Dana…”

  “No, really. I have to get those sketches finished tonight. It was very nice meeting all of you.”

  She was halfway up the stairs before Sammy caught up with her, his expression puzzled. “Are you mad about somethin’, sis?”

  Dana sighed. “No. I’m not mad.”

  “Then why’d you run out like that?”

  “We’re not Hallorans, Sammy. We can’t let ourselves forget that.”

  “But…”

  She hugged him tight. “I don’t think I men
tioned it earlier, but you look very handsome.”

  His eyes lit up. “You really think so?”

  “I really think so. Good night, Sammy. I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t stay up too late.”

  Unfortunately she wasn’t able to take her own advice. She changed into an oversized T-shirt, climbed into bed, than stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. When sleep continued to elude her, she got up and, dragging a blanket with her, curled up in a chair by the window.

  She was still sitting there, staring out at the inky darkness when she heard the faint tap on her door, then saw it inch open. Jason didn’t wait for a response before sliding inside. Dana’s breath lodged in her throat.

  It was an instant before his eyes adjusted to the darkness, before he spotted her in the chair. When he did, he crossed the room in three angry strides, then hauled her up against him and slanted a bruising kiss across her mouth. Dana was so stunned by the onslaught of sensations, by the rough demand, that it was an instant before she fought to free herself.

  Breathing hard, she stepped away from him and demanded, “What the hell was that all about?”

  “Just a reminder,” he said in a low, warning tone.

  “Of what?”

  “A reminder that you’re not some stray border in this house. You’re here because I love you and want to marry you. That gives you every right to be here.”

  Her heart hammering, she held up a hand. “Jason, please. You have to slow down. Where did all this talk of marriage come from?”

  He looked every bit as startled as she felt. “Okay, it didn’t come out quite the way it should have, but I meant every word. I want to marry you. I won’t have you acting like some second-class citizen around here.”

  Since the thought of marriage was too troubling to deal with, she murmured, “I’m sorry if I was rude.”

  He plunged his fingers through his hair. “Dammit, Dana, this is not about being rude. It’s about understanding that you belong. No matter what anyone thinks, what anyone says, you belong.”